STORIES IN SPOKEN COMMUNICATION SKILLS DEVELOPMENT: TEACHING ENGLISH

TO YOUNG LEARNERS

Zhivka Ilieva
zhivka_ilieva@yahoo.com

Childrens literature is a rich resource of authentic language input and a suitable context for
communicative situations in class.
Tales and stories provide characters and roles where students can experience various social
situations and practice suitable language functions and the corresponding language structures.
1. A model for work with stories
This is the model I use to work with stories in class towards communicative skills development:

INTERCTIVE PRESENTATION

REPETITION IN MEANINGFUL CONTEXT

COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES

FUNNY ACTIVITIES

CONVERSATIONS

Interactive presentation starts with the preliminary discussion and includes the introduction of the
topic, the presentation of the characters and the first storytelling. The purpose of this stage is activating
students background skills and knowledge. Repetition of the same words and phrases in each episode
aids their learning by heart and the students can easily take part in storytelling. The participation brings
students pleasure, fun and sense of achievement, which are very important at primary school level and
contribute to keeping interest in the foreign language and motivation to study.
Repetition in meaningful context each new storytelling, aiming at repetition for acquiring
pronunciation and making sense of the meaning of the words and phrases.
Communicative activities include:
Discussion about the characters, the events, the relationships, the moral, the topics the story
provides;
Games;
Problem solving;
Filling-in and composing comics.
This stage aims at repetition and use of the speech models in various contexts in various situations
with various words.
Through integrating various disciplines from the curriculum in the FL discussions and problem
solving games, we can include a global topic which contributes to the whole language learning and the
childs development.
Funny activities include illustration, learning a poem or a song, connected to the topic. The aim is
to provide repetition in pleasant atmosphere and interdisciplinary relations and to heighten students
interest and motivation.
Conversations:
Drama
Improvisation
 The aim of this stage is to use the acquired material in free undirected conversation, where the
models learned are broken and are used together with other knowledge.
The story allows melting the borders between the various stages of the model and in the lesson. It
fulfills easily and pleasantly activities, connected to repetition, which seem boring and pointless to the
students on the first sight. Repetition is in storytelling, funny activities, connected to poems and songs;
communicative activities for inventing additional situations and characters to the story.
2. Lesson plans
2.1. Good Morning, Farmer
Age: 6-8
Aims: To learn the words and phrases and be able to use them in various situations
Objectives:
Vocabulary: revision of animals (sheep, duck, dog, cat, pig, horse, rabbit), introducing new ones
(hen, goose, cow, turkey goat, donkey)
Grammar plural regular s, irregular geese, sheep
Present progressive Where are you going? (acquisition without explanation)
Past simple The.. came and said.. (acquisition without explanation)
Infinitive of purpose - Im going to the town/to the shop to buy earplugs
Social language: greeting people - Good morning, Hello, Good afternoon, Good evening
Skills: listening (and understanding), speaking; asking and answering questions; working with
pictures
Time: 2 classes
Materials: pictures (animals), the story Good Morning, Farmer*; on the board or on a slide, there are
written the animals and the sounds they produce e.g.:
cow moo moo
sheep baa baa
pig oink oink
dog woof woof
cat meow meow
goose honk honk
duck quack quack
hen cluck cluck
* My Little Treasury Of Stories and Rhymes 1996, Bookmart Limited, p.146-147
a very simplified version of the story
Interdisciplinary relations: The world around discussion about domestic animals and farms

Lesson 1
I Warm up
Talking about animals, farm animals; What is this? (a picture game) revision of animals, introducing new
animals, practising pl. - -s and irregular, and the sounds the animals produce
II Introducing the story Good Morning, Farmer and Storytelling 1 using pictures for the animals;
students can take part
Before finishing the story you can ask Where is he going?
III Storytelling 2 the students arrange the pictures they have received previously in the order the
animals appear in the story.
IV Greet each other (say to your partner Hello; Good morning; Good afternoon; Good evening) pair work
V Talking about other farm animals horses, goats, turkeys, rabbits, donkey, introducing the sounds
they make through short poems **
(**www.englishbox.de)
VI Close up
Lesson 2
I Warm up
Discussion farm animals, their sounds, the work they do.
II Revision of the poems.
III Storytelling 3 with the students participation.
IV Interactive storytelling (practicing the 3 language models from the story, using various greetings and
more animals)
a) The teacher is the farmer and the students are divided into groups to present the farm animals.
The farmer greets them e.g. Good morning, hens. and they reply they say their sound,
greet him and ask him where he is going.
b) Half of the class are storytellers and the other half are the animals. The storytellers say who
comes and the animals say their sound, greet and ask their question; then they change their
roles. The teacher helps to keep the order by showing the pictures of the animals.
c) A game where we use various greetings and the animals are not in the order of the story
unpredictable. The teacher or the students in turn say an animal and show a label with certain
time of the day (e.g. 7.00 a.m, 2.00 p.m., 8.00 p.m.) and the others react to the clue using the
words from the story.
V Practising the model Where are you going? Im going to the to buy in a situation the students
choose (pair work).
VI Close up
Possible interdisciplinary relations: arts making an illustration or a picture of a farm; music Old
Mac Donald and other farm and animal songs.

2.2. The Magic Mitten

Age: 7-9
Aims:
Communicative acquisition of the phrases from the story in funny atmosphere.
Realizing interdisciplinary relations.
Communicative skills development using the dialogue from the story in the story context and in
another context.
Objectives:
Vocabulary: animals, colours
Grammar:
indefinite article + adjective + noun (a grey mouse, a brown bear, a white rabbit, a green frog,
etc.);
without explanation passively: modals can / may; Present Simple, Present Progressive, Past
Simple; imperative; special and general questions
Social language: asking for permission, inviting to come in
Skills: listening (and understanding), speaking, asking and answering questions
Time: 3 classes
Materials: the story The Magic Mitten*, pictures of the animals, books with the story.
Interdisciplinary relations: Environment// The world around; Literature; Arts
Topics: animals, relationships, friendship, help, hospitality
*Five Funny Tales About Fellows with Tails Colouring & Storybook 2001, Fyut Publishing House,
Bulgaria

Lesson 1
I Warm up
Discussion - preparation for listening
II Introducing the characters, key words and phrases. The characters are introduced through pictures and
the question Whats this? The students answer in various ways: mouse, a mouse, this is a mouse. The
characters are written in column on the blackboard, leaving space on the lefthand side of the column. The
characters are repeated adding the question What colour is (the mouse)?. An indefinite article and an
adjective for colour are added in front of the noun.
a grey mouse
a green frog
a white rabbit
an orange fox
 a grey wolf
a brown bear.
Draw a big mitten on the board in order to paste all the characters (pictures) in it and announce the title of
the story The Magic Mitten.
III Storytelling 1 using the pictures for the characters and uhu-tack to paste them in the mitten.
The phrases are repeated 5-6 times and the students remember them, so they take part in storytelling.
IV Storytelling 2 with the active participation of the class.
V Dramatization the class is divided into groups and each student draws a ticket with role.
VI Close up
Lesson 2
I Warm up
II Storytelling 3 the students take active part.
III Discussion about animals, relations (reach the conclusion why the mitten is magic it hosts all the
animals and nobody is hurt they are friends (the fox doesnt eat the rabbit) thus the story demonstrates
tolerance and friendship), intertextual relations with other stories (Suttevs Under the Mushroom).
IV Filling in comics with key words.
V Close up
Lesson 3
I Warm up
II Storytelling 4 - the students take active part.
III Roleplay The students receive tickets with roles and play an episode using the words from the story in
another situation (pair work). There are 2 situations each of the students has to practice all the phrases.
IV Making an illustration to the story
V Close up

2.3. Sister Fox And Brother Bear

Age: 8-9
Aims:
Communicative acquisition of the phrases from the story in a funny atmosphere.
Realizing interdisciplinary relations.
Communicative skills development using the dialogue from the story in the story context and in
another context.
Objectives:
Vocabulary: animals, plants kinds, structure, colours
Grammar: without explanation passively: Present simple, Past Simple, Future Tense
Social language: asking a favour, bargaining, being polite, greeting
Skills: listening (and understanding), speaking, asking and answering questions
Time: 4 classes
Materials: the story Sister Fox and Brother Bear*, pictures of the animals, books with the story.
Interdisciplinary relations: The world around; Arts
Topics: relations between people, doing favours, friendship, cheating
*Five Funny Tales About Fellows with Tails Colouring & Storybook 2001, Fyut Publishing House,
Bulgaria

Lesson 1
I Warm up
Revision of the names of the plants in English using pictures; introducing the new word leek.
Introducing the parts of the plant in English: root, stem, leaves.
Discussion which part of the plant is used (e.g. We eat the fruit/ the balls, we dont eat the stem and the
leaves. (melon); We eat the stem, we dont eat the leaves and the root. (leek) etc.).
II Introducing the characters and Storytelling 1.
III A short discussion for understanding
IV Storytelling 2. with the active participation of the students.
V Discussion about the characters and the relations between them. Creating similar dialogues.
VI Close up
Lesson 2
I Warm up
II Storytelling 3 the students take active part.
III Drama in pairs or in groups of three (with a storyteller) the students practice the dialogue from the
story.
IV Making an illustration to the story.
V Close up
Lesson 3
I Warm up
Revision of the story.
II Filling in comics with key words.
III Drama in pairs or in groups of three (with a storyteller) the students practice the dialogue from the
story, but in their own situation.
IV Close up
Lesson 4
I Warm up
Revision of the story with the active participation of the students.
II Roleplay The students receive tickets with roles and play an episode using the words from the story in
another situation (pair work). There are 2 situations each of the students has to practice all the phrases.
It is not possible to use whole phrases from the ticket in order to turn the instructions into a dialogue,
the students need to make changes, requiring communicative skills and grammatical knowledge.
III Close up

2.4. The House That Is For You Will Not Be For Me

(The House That Suits You Will Never Suit Me)
Age: 9-10
Aims: Learning actively the phrases while enjoying the story and preparing for role play. Developing oral
communicative skills in the situation of the story (drama) and then in other situations
Objectives:
Vocabulary: revising and enriching animal names, living places, environment
Grammar: imperative; can
Social language: Practising conversation (meeting someone, greeting people)
Skills: Developing listening and speaking skills
Discussion: Places to live in interdisciplinary relations
Time: 3 classes English + 1 Arts & Crafts
Materials: the story The House That Suits You Will Never Suit Me* (Eccleshare J. 1995 Five Minute
Stories, Scholastic Ltd)
* The original story contains 3 characters a worm, a bird and a fish. We (the teachers) changed the
worm for a mouse and added 3 more characters a wild duck, a bear and a squirrel and also changed the
end of the story in order to have a happy end like in the fairy tales.

Lesson 1
I Warm up
Talking about the following animals: mice, fish, birds, wild duck, bear, squirrel where they live, what
their house is e.g. a hole, a nest, a cave etc.
II Storytelling 1 (without the end)
III Discussing the story.
It can be done in native language in order to receive feedback and all the pupils to understand what the
story is about.
IV Storytelling 2 (without the end) the pupils who want to, who have remembered the phrases, take
part in the story.
V Discussion how to help the main character, adding more animals and situations; guessing the end of the
story (might be in native language).
VI Telling and discussing the end of the story
Lesson 2
I Storytelling with the students the whole story with the situations added by the students.
II Game the teacher mentions one of the characters and the students say the advice the character gives
to the man (e.g. MOUSE make a hole; BEAR - go to the mountain and find a cave; BIRD - make a nest
SQUIRREL / BIRD - find a tree).
III In pairs students practice the dialogue from the episodes.
IV In groups of three (a storyteller, a man and another character) the students choose another episode to
practice.
V Preparing for role play. Distributing the roles and first rehearsal (the dramatization is prepared for a
feast of the class so part of the rehearsals are practiced during the Periods of the Class).
Lesson 3 - Arts & Crafts
Drawing pictures and emblems of the characters, preparing crowns with their images for dramatization.
Lesson 4
I Revision
II Roleplay / Drama
The story is retold with the participation of the students. The students receive tickets with roles two
situations for pair work.
Finally the pupils performed the dramatization at a class feast in front of their parents.

3. The place of the activities in the model and methodological comment

3.1. Interactive presentation
3.1.1. In the lessons connected to Good Morning, Farmer, The Magic Mitten and Sister Fox and
Brother Bear this stage includes:
Presenting the characters;
Revision and introduction of key words and expressions, practising the key words and
developing the new phrases;
Telling the story with the help of pictures (appendix 1). When the same phrase is repeated,
the students have the opportunity to take part.
3.1.2. In the lessons connected to The House That is for You Will not be for me the first stage
consists of:
Introducing the story and key words and phrases during the discussion various creatures
various houses;
Storytelling with mimes, gestures, actions; the students have the opportunity to participate;
Discussion in English and in Bulgarian.
During storytelling the students develop strategies for listening and understanding; during the
discussions strategies for extracting information, for understanding and clarifying meaning, for
conversation.
3.2. Repetition in meaningful context
3.2.1. The students take part in each new storytelling. The phrases are repeated at least 3 times
(Sister Fox and Brother Bear);
Repetition helps students learn the structures.
E.g. in The Magic Mitten They learn structures with modal verbs (can, may) they rememeber that
the question is formed by the modal and not by the auxiliary do May I come in?.
3.2.2. In the lessons connected to the story The Magic Mitten, the students role play the story in
groups, which is an exercise connected to imitation and repetition in the context of dramatizing the story.
3.2.3. In the lessons connected to the story The House That is for You Will not be for me, the
students practice the the dialogue in a chosen episode in pairs and in groups of three (with a storyteller).
3.3. Communicative activities
The third stage consists of:
3.3.1. Good Morning, Farmer
 Discussion about the farm animals, their sounds and the work they do;
Practising the model Where are you going? Im going to the to buy . Here are some
of the dialogues, received as a result of this activity:
A: Hello!
B: Hi!
A: Where are you going?
B: To the pet shop!
A: Why?
B: To buy a new pet a pig.
A: A pig?
B: Yes!
A: Hello, B. Where are you going?
B: Hello, A. Im going to the car shop.
A: Car shop?
B: Yes, to buy a new car - Peugeot
A: Bye!
B: Bye!

3.3.2. The Magic Mitten

Discussion about other similar stories, about animals;
Filling in comics (appendix 2)
3.3.3. Sister Fox and Brother Bear
Discussion about the characters and the relations among them;
Making similar situations and dialogues;
In the new dialogues the students made, the Fox was tricked the children thought it was very
unfair to Brother Bear.
For example: There is a tall apple tree next to Brother Bears house. When the apples grow ripe
Brother Bear invites Sister Fox to pick some apples: Please, come and take some apples, Sister Fox..
There is a ladder, but when Sister Fox is on the tree, Brother Bear takes the ladder and leaves her there
without water, without a bed.
Brother Bear invites Sister Fox for dinner and gives her a VERY chilly meal.
And some of the dialogues between the two characters included various plants and various favours:
a. A: Please, let me use your garden, Brother Bear. I want to plant potatoes there.
B: OK but what will I take?
A: I take the balls, you take the stems.
B: You trick me, Brother Fox. Dont ask me dont ask me favours any more!
b. A*: Please, let me use your garden. I want to plant some mushrooms there.
B: OK but what will I take?
A*: You take the stems, I take the hats.
B: You trick me. Dont ask me favours any more!
c. A: Can I take your book?
B: OK. What will I take?
A: Mmm...... You'll take my rubber, my pen and my pencil.
B: You trick me.
A: No, I don't.
d. A: Can I take your cat because I have in my house a mouse?
B: What will I take?
A: You gonna take my dog.
B: OK.
e. A: Please, let me ride your horse.
B: OK. But what will I do? (instead of take)
A: Youll walk my dog.
Filling in comics.
 3.3.4. The House That is for You Will not be for me
Discussion and producing dialogues similar to the model who else the character can meet
and what advice he would receive;
The discussion after storytelling 1 is very important because sometimes there are pupils who have
difficulties in grasping the meaning of the story in English they enjoy the pictures we use, mimes and
gestures and after the discussion in native language after understanding exactly what the story is about,
they can take part in the second storytelling.
During the discussion after the first storytelling a student decided to retell an episode in Bulgarian
meeting the bird and building a nest and he gathered branches, tied them on his back and started
climbing the tree This detail (tying the branches onto his back) was originally in the story, but while
simplifying it for the class we decided to skip it. Since the child had not read the story before, we can
conclude that children really extract great part of the information from the context one cannot climb a
tree if s/he holds something in ones hands. When the students pick up the key words and expressions,
they can easily understand the message from the situation.
Discussing new characters and episodes children have to use their imagination to invent more story
characters to take part in the story e.g. a spider, a goat, a butterfly, a bee, a rabbit, a snake, an ant, a snail,
a monkey, a lion. As a result of this activity the story was enriched with a few new episodes.
A game the teacher shows a picture or a name of one of the characters and the students
give the advice of the corresponding character (e.g. a duck make a nest);
Drama rehearsal for a feast;
Participation in a feast.
3.4. Funny activities
3.4.1. Good Morning, Farmer learning short poems;
3.4.2. The Magic Mitten making an illustration, filling in comics;
While making an illustration to the story, the students practised similar questions and answers
playing visit pay e.g.:
A: Who's living here?
B: I am N.. Who's there?
A: I am I. Can I come in?
B: OK. Jump in!
3.4.3. Sister Fox and Brother Bear making an illustration, filling in comics;
While painting, two students adapted the dialogue to the situation:
A: Please let me use your orange pencil, I want to colour my fox.
B: OK. But what will I take?
A: You take the rubber, I take the pencil.
: I'll leave you only its rubber.
3.4.4. The House That is for You Will not be for me preparation of masks, emblems for the drama
during the feast.
While the students work with their hands during the Arts and Crafts activities, they discuss the
story, the characters, their roles using English as well as Bulgarian.
3.5. Conversation
Drama and role play activities belong to the stage aiming at free production of speech.
In The Magic Mitten, Sister Fox and Brother Bear, The House That is for You Will not be for me the
students receive tickets with roles (appendix 3).
The aim of the role play is to activate the phrases from both roles.
E.g. in The House That is for You Will not be for me - asking for and giving advice and directions
using the expressions from the story in a situation, different from the original one. The activity also aims
at enriching students linguistic, social and cultural experience recipes are given in imperative this is
part of their linguistic and sociolinguistic competence. Another aim of the activity is developing tolerance
towards various traditional meals and arousing interest in the foreign culture.

Working with stories children acquire easily words and structures, practise them and
develop their abilities to communicate in different situations, develop their communicative
strategies in the foreign language.
APPENDIX 1
Pictures for the story Good Morning, Farmer
 Pictures for the story Sister Fox and Brother Bear

APPENDIX 3
An example of comics - Sister Fox and Brother Bear
I You are going to a friend to ask a favour from him/her.
(Vous allez chez un/e ami/e pour lui demander un service.)
1 Greet him/her. (Saluez-le/la)
2 Ask for a picture/ stamp for your collection.
(Demandez-lui une image, un timbre pour votre collection.)
3 Your friend wants something too. What are you going to give him/her?
(Votre ami/e vous demande quelque chose en change. Quest-ce que vous lui donnerez?)
4 Give your friend the thing you have promised.
(Donnez a votre ami/e ce que vous lui avez promis.)

II A friend of yours is coming to see you. He/She greets you.

(Un de vos amis vient vous voir. Il vous salue.)
1 Greet him/her too. (Saluez-le.)
2 Your friend wants a picture/ stamp for his/her collection. Agree give it to him but ask what you
take. (Votre ami vous demande, une image, un timbre pour sa collection. Acceptez, mais demandez ce
que vous recevrez en change.)
3 Your friend will suggest you something. Agree with him/her.
(Il va vous proposer quelque chose, acceptez.)
4 You receive something; think if you are tricked. Do you like what you receive or are you
disappointed? Express your feelings about it.
(Vous recevez quelque chose, Rflchissez si on vous a tromp. Etes-vous satisfait ou du?
Exprimez-vous.)
APPENDIX 2
An example of comics (The Magic Mitten)
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Bulgaria
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